BBMP’s drive to digitise records of properties with e-khata raises risk of potential duplication

BBMP digitises property records for e-khatas, leading to potential duplication issues, with 30,000 records scanned from 2022 pilot project.

During the process of digitising property records to issue e-khatas in 2024, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has also scanned records for properties that had been issued digital khata certificates during a pilot project in 2022. According to rough estimates, there are around 30,000 such property records, potentially leading to the duplication of e-khatas.

In 2022, the BBMP introduced the option for property owners to obtain digital khatas or e-khatas. At that time, applicants were required to manually submit the necessary documents at sub-registrar offices. These documents were then scanned and uploaded into the system for e-khata issuance. Under the current system, property owners must upload their documents directly on the e-khata website after downloading the draft e-khata.

To facilitate this new process, the BBMP has digitised approximately 23 lakh property records. The BBMP launched the e-khata system on October 1 after the State government mandated this document for any form of land transactions. Till April 2, 2025, BBMP has issued 3.21 lakh final e-khatas and received 3.34 lakh applications for the same.

However, the civic body should have excluded records for which e-khatas had already been issued, said former BBMP councillor M. Pari. Due to this oversight, it is now possible for a property to be issued a duplicate e-khata.

When The Hindu entered property IDs (PIDs) and names of property owners who were issued e-khatas in 2022, the system still generated a draft e-khata for these entries, and upon uploading the necessary documents, a second e-khata could be issued. Mr. Pari suggested that the BBMP’s e-khata portal should immediately notify users if an e-khata has already been issued for a given PID. This feature would only be possible if necessary system changes are made.

BBMP Special Commissioner (Revenue), Munish Moudgil, acknowledged the issue but assured that there was no cause for concern. He said affected property owners need not reapply. In cases where duplicate khatas are issued, one can be removed from the system.